Mindfulness is a common practice used to find inner peace and Self-Realization.

Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, a Zen master often associated with mindfulness practice, stated, “In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few.”

This pointer is often used to suggest the beginner’s mind is a path to Self-Realization. We would suggest Suzuki Roshi was pointing to a recognition of beginner’s mind as the culmination of Self-Realization.

That is not to suggest one cannot find peace trying to be mindful of daily life, but ultimately, we need to recognize the individual mind is illusory. Mindfulness is actually pointing to universal mind, not individual mind, as the beginner’s mind. The individual mind is bound with beliefs, conceptions, and expert opinions, while the universal mind, the beginner’s mind, has infinite possibilities. The individual mind is an object and has limited possibilities. The universal mind is Pure Subject; it is the beginner’s mind with boundless possibilities.

Stop and look at who or what is trying to be mindful. Without looking to thoughts, memories, associations, or beliefs, who is it who is trying to be mindful? Universal mind is true Mindfulness.

Peace, Bec and Steve

Mindfulness

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